St. Landry democrat., 1887-12-17
THE SAGE OF CONCORD.
Incidents in the Life of Ralph WALDO
Emerson.

Emerson.
It is difficult to decide upon the posi-
lion which Mr. Emerson will occupy in
the future rs one Of the shining lights OF
American literature While he mas
LARGE number of followers who look
upon him as well nigh a prophet, there
are a multitude Of others who regard
him a~ nothing but dreamer The ele-
mrnt Of popularity, in the general sense
Of the term, was never his, and perhaps
never will be: but as a profound and
original thinker he will always attract
the attention Of studiouS minds kSpe-
riaIlv is this the case with his poems,
which in all probability arc never dcs-
tined TO attain a very wide celebrity, and
his essays will continue the main strength
Of his reputation There IS thought
enough in his verses for many essays IT
prose, but they are cold and obscure,
wholly wanting in lhe ctrttlH tl$ Of poetry
But as a man and Il student there can be
| but one opinion Of his pure heart and
lofty intellect.
Born in Boston May %, 1903, he early
developed a studiOus taste under the
rule of a somewhat rigid father, accord
ing to the old New England Puritan
system He entered Harvard College in
1917, when fourteen years of age, bis
father being hardly able TO pay the ex-
renses of his education Emerson was
obliged to exc out his scanty means by
doing chores and acting as 'presi-
dents freshman during his first year in
college. This office consisted mainly in
running on errands for the president;
and when he wanted to send for stu
dent to give him a lecture for delin-
uuency, the bearer of the Ominous sum
mons was the elect freshman He was
accordingly held by all the classes in NOR
tai terror and looked upon as a sort of
familiar of the Inquisition." The off ce
had certain privileges, such as the tirss
choice Of rooms in college, but it was
degrading position to one of sensitive
spirit, and has for many wears been
rightly abolished
Emerson II college was not distin
guished for scholarship, and some
branches of the university course-as
mathematics-he had great distaste for.
On graduating he was obliged to teach
school for some wears on account of his
poverty, and found this occupation ex-
tremely irksome, although he had then,
and always retained, fOndness for the
society Of young persons.
As there seemed to be no career open
to him except that of the ministry,
which his father and grandfather had
followed before him, he entered the di-
vinitv school of Harvard in 1924. Even
there his independent, not to say skeptI-
cal. turn of mind assailed him, and, not
without many misgivings, he became
pastor Of the Second Unitarian Church
Of Boston few years later. His charge
lasted but about three years, when he
voluntarily abandoned it, widely differ
ing from his congregation i'll regard to
the communion service as a sacrament.
He had married Miss Tucker at the
outset of his ministry, but she lived
very short time He never preached
afterward, and in 1892 visited Europe,
where he remained for a year.
met Mr.. Emerson number of times in
later life, and was always most kindly
and cordially greeted by him, seeing him
last in Baltimore not many years before
his death His taste in literature was
peculiar; and although a wide liker, he
could see nothing in Dickens as a nov
elist, nor in Shelley as a poet. TO my
great surprise also, found once in con-
versation with him regarding the English
poets that he emphatically pronounced
Southey mo poet at all | could not in
any wise agree with him, and cited the
wondrous imagery of "Thalaba' and the
Course of kehama' in vain; and found
some time afterTard in lecture Of his on
the British poets, mentioning Words
worth and Coleridge with warmth, that
he never even named Southey or made
any alusion to him.
In 1885 Emerson married for the Sec
ond time His wife was Miss Lydia Jack
son. He then bought the house in Con-
cord, which became so famous as the
home of The Sage With a growing
family and limited purse, he was obliged
to keep up lecturlng as means of sup
port; and as his fame increased from
year to year he was more widely sought
BY lvceums, both in New England and
the West, but he was never extrava
ga ntlv paid, and often very little in the
smaller New England towns, while his
liberal disposition and constant hospi-
tally kept him in state of watchful-
ness lest the outgo should succeed his
income. His intimate associations with
many of the leading spirits of the Brook
Farm" experiment, abOrtive, as all such
utopian schemes have proved can only
be alluded to here While he sympathized
with the gifted men and women who made
the attempt, he felt no disappointment at
its failure. Another somewhat kindred
enterprise consisted in the establishment
of The Dial, quarterly publication,
which lasted just four years, and was
the special organ of the Transcendental
lists in their highest state of etflorescence.
1t was mercilessly ridiculed, but Emerson
wrote much for it. A great deal in it
was curious reading then, and would be
laughed at now. Its "Orphic sayings"
protesting to embody the profoundest
wisdom in the fewest words, were only
the rawlings of intellectual inanity One
of it's poems, supposed to be as Gin
spired" as the old Delphic oracle, con-
sisted of these three lines:
Only to be:
Is enough for me,
Is enough for thee.
Clerks obliged to work in custom
houses thought otherwise, and the gifted
author of it probably changed his views
whom comnallp6 to toll for braaI ap6